By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

Uniforms had just come in for Hillsboro and Peabody-Burns combined softball players, but coach Stephanie Sinclair says she missed the chance to snap a photo of the girls wearing them this year.

It would have been a lovely souvenir of a team that had every hope of a shot at state before a deadly viral outbreak shut down their season.

“Honestly, I regret that there is no picture,” Sinclair said. “I usually have my phone out, but I thought, ‘I’ll get it later. I’ll get it on picture day.’ But now we’ll not have a picture day.”

There were no seniors among the 13 who turned out this year, but Sinclair said she had great leaders in All-Central Kansas League pick, Dani Klein and Tuesday Weisbeck, both juniors at Hillsboro High.

Peabody-Burns sophomore Skylre Stucky, would be another asset as an experienced pitcher and catcher.

Sinclair also expected great things from the team’s younger players.

“I was also excited by the freshmen,” she said. “We had six come out, but they knew a lot of softball.”

Trojan freshman Kori Arnold was relishing the chance to play for a high school team, Sinclair said.

“I have known her since she was itty bitty,” Sinclair said. “She is passionate about softball. It had been her dream to play on the Hillsboro softball team.”

Sinclair says she looked forward to testing the girls’ mettle against Haven and Pratt early this upcoming season.

“I figured that would let us know where we were going to stand in the beginning.”

The girls were practicing well and had the backing of supportive parents who offered plenty of help, she said. The team’s success would depend on how fast their younger players matured.

“I knew we would take some bumps along the way, we were young,” she said. “But they were learning really fast, so I felt by the time regionals rolled around we could contend for a spot — and possibly make it to state.”

In the meantime, Sinclair has been busy figuring out how to teach math to Hillsboro’s students using Google Classroom.

She still worries about some students that may not have access to distance learning, but said the is district working hard to reach its students.

“I have complete faith we will figure that all out,” she said.